Warren Releases DNA Test Results

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has released DNA results supporting her claims to have Native American ancestry and now she wants President Donald Trump to make good on his pledge to donate $1 million to charity.

(Published Monday, Oct. 15, 2018)

Sen. Elizabeth Warren suggested President Donald Trump's comment about him personally administering a DNA test to her to prove her Native American heritage is "creepy."

She tweeted that the president makes "creepy physical threats" about women who scare him, including her.

"He's trying to do what he always does to women who scare him: call us names, attack us personally, shrink us down to feel better about himself," the Massachusetts Democrat responded on Twitter on Monday after Trump made the comment during an appearance in Georgia. "It may soothe his ego - but it won't work."

Trump lashed out again Tuesday. He has long ridiculed her as "Pocahontas" but called her, in a new tweet, "Pocahontas (the bad version)."

My family (including Fox News-watchers) sat together and talked about what they think of @realDonaldTrump’s attacks on our heritage. And yes, a famous geneticist analyzed my DNA and concluded that it contains Native American ancestry. pic.twitter.com/r3SNzP22f8

"Pocahontas (the bad version), sometimes referred to as Elizabeth Warren, is getting slammed," Trump tweeted. "She took a bogus DNA test and it showed that she may be 1/1024, far less than the average American. Now Cherokee Nation denies her, 'DNA test is useless.' Even they don’t want her. Phony!"

He also called for Warren to apologize.

Trump relishes a good fight, those close to him have said, and will hit back twice as hard when he's been attacked.

Warren did not immediately respond on Tuesday, but she tweeted Monday that Trump will continue to insult her.

"Let him. We’ll be busy registering voters, knocking on doors, making sure our neighbors know the facts, & telling them about what we're ready to do to build pride, hope, & opportunity all across our country," she continued.

While the Cherokee Nation has taken umbrage to Warren's claims of heritage, Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr. also said on CNN Monday that she doesn't deserve to be called "Pocahontas" derisively.

"I don't think the president's particularly helpful in taking those shots at Elizabeth Warren. I don't think she's particularly helpful for going back and saying, 'Look, I've got my DNA results, see what they show,'" he said, adding that they should be focused on the issues.

Warren was born in Oklahoma, which is home to 39 tribes and where more than 7 percent of the population identifies as Native American, one of the highest proportions in the nation.

But she's not a member of any tribe, and many Indians take exception to anyone who claims to be part Indian without being enrolled in a tribe, especially for political purposes.

"It adds fuel to that misconception that I can go out, get a DNA test and then, boom, that's all I really need," said Brandon Scott, a Cherokee Nation citizen and the executive editor of tribe's newspaper, the Cherokee Phoenix. "But the facts of the matter are you need a lot more than that."

The nation's 573 federally recognized tribes collectively do not have a single standard for determining membership. Tribes like the Cherokee Nation use lineal descent, meaning a person is Cherokee if an ancestor is listed on an original roll regardless of their amount of Indian blood. Descendants of black slaves the Cherokee once owned are also members of the tribe.

Warren, a sharp critic of Trump who is seen as a potential 2020 challenger to Trump, wasted little time going after him on Monday. She appears to have taken a page out of his political playbook, striking back almost instantly at the president who continues to ridicule her claim of Native American ancestry.

She opened the day by releasing DNA test results that provide some evidence of a Native American in her lineage, though the ancestor probably lived six to 10 generations ago, according to the analysis. Trump has ridiculed her as "Pocahontas" over the ancestry claim.

In July, the president offered to donate $1 million to her favorite charity if a DNA test proved her Native American bloodline.

On Monday, he first denied ever making such a promise, then said later that "I'll only do it if I can test her personally."

Warren tweeted that Trump is a "cowardly elitist" and she "won't sit quietly for Trump's racism" so she took the test.

"I took this test and released the results for anyone who cares to see because I've got nothing to hide. What are YOU hiding, @realDonaldTrump?" she wrote. "Release your tax returns - or the Democratic-led House will do it for you soon enough. Tick-tock, Mr President."